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Aspiras Award
Senior Ethan Aspiras proudly sports the All-State medal he earned for finishing sixth last week in the CIAC 3,000-meter boys’ steeplechase championship. Photo by Pete Lusa.
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Finishes Eighth
2133- Sophomore Bella Sorrentino in shotput, finished eighth in the CIAC girls’ heptathlon championship last week. File photos by Marc Allard.
Honored
Senior Guerin Favreau was selected as a Class M second team All-State performer in boys’ lacrosse by the Connecticut High School Lacrosse Coaches Association recently. Photo by Marc Allard.
Roundup
2 Centaurs
excel at
season-ending
track events
Woodstock Academy girls’ track coach Josh Welch got a couple of athletes interested in participating in the postseason outdoor track events sponsored by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and sophomore Bella Sorrentino and senior Ethan Aspiras were glad they did.
Both finished in the top 10 in their events.
Aspiras, in his final time in a Centaur uniform, finished sixth in the CIAC boys’ 3,000-meter steeplechase while Sorrentino placed eighth in the CIAC girls’ heptathlon championship.
Aspiras finished the steeplechase in 10 minutes, 13.12 seconds. Prior to the meet, he had worked on hurdles, something he didn’t do during the track season, at a lower height and placed approximately at the distance that Aspiras would face in the event. Woodstock Academy coach Pete Lusa also improvised a water jump using a plyometric box which he had the senior jump on and off of.
It worked. “On the way home from the meet, Ethan expressed pleasure in finishing this event as his last high school event. He was close to breaking the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase — only a few milliseconds away really — but he felt that breaking the 3,200 record was more important and satisfying. He didn’t realize that coming in sixth also meant he was an All-State performer in the steeplechase,” Lusa said.
The afternoon didn’t start all that well for Aspiras. He came to the event with a very sore back so the Centaurs coaching staff put him through some stretching exercises after which he said he felt better, at least, a little better.
It led to some anxious moments, not only for Aspiras, but for Lusa.
“It was exciting to see an athlete of Ethan’s caliber attempt a difficult challenge and succeed,” Lusa said. “He has a drive and determination that sets him apart from other athletes. He began slowly, and built a rhythm, picking off other runners until he was in 5th place. With two laps to go, he was passed by the last athlete that he had passed which bumped him back to sixth.”
Sorrentino’s goal was pretty simple going into the heptathlon. Get enough points to be eligible to participate in the second day of the eight-event competition.
She did that and more as she was one of only two underclassmen to finish in the top 10.
Sorrentino finished fourth in the shotput (8.62 meters); 10th in the 100-meter hurdles (17.27 seconds); 11th in the 200-meter (27.7 seconds) and 17th in the high jump (1.38 meters) on the first day of the competition.
It was her hurdles performance that had Welch excited. “She dropped almost three seconds and three-stepped the whole way for the first time. That was a great moment and let me know she was ready for a great day,” Welch said.
Sorrentino moved up to sixth place in the competition after the first event of the second day when she nailed her long jump, exceeding her personal best by 10 inches, with a leap of 15-feet, 9 ¾ inches to finish fourth in the event.
She remained in sixth after an eighth-place finish in the javelin which she threw 21.24 meters in her first-ever competition in the event.
Sorrentino capped off the day with a 15-second personal record by finishing in 2-minutes,46.89 seconds in the 800-meter. It was good for 19th and dropped her back two places to her eighth-place finish with a more than respectable 3,466-point total.
“The best thing about working with Bella is her commitment and focus. She is already thinking about what she can accomplish next year. I look forward to helping her prepare for that but right now, we’re all just incredibly proud of what she accomplished this season,” Welch said.
Welch was also happy that Aspiras also chose to attempt something a little out of his comfort zone.
“It was great to see our athletes stretching out into the multi-event meets and steeple. I think it shows a high level of commitment to continue the season and I hope we will see more in the future,” Welch said.
State, ECC recognize Centaur Athletes
Woodstock Academy senior Guerin Favreau was recently chosen as a Class M second team All-State performer by the Connecticut High School Lacrosse Coaches Association.
Favreau finished his final boys’ lacrosse season for the Centaurs with 71 goals and 35 assists for 106 points this past spring.
The senior will play lacrosse at the next level for Endicott College.
Numerous Woodstock Academy athletes received recognition from the ECC for their efforts this past spring season.
Honored were:
Baseball: All-Stars: Hamilton Barnes, Kaden Murphy; Honorable Mention: Jacob Hernandez, Jon Smith; Scholar-Athlete: Trey Ayotte
Softball: All-Stars: Mackenzie Leveille, Lexi Thompson. Madison Martinez; Honorable Mention: Sarah McArthur; Sportsmanship: Marissa Mayhew; Scholar-Athlete: Meg Preston
Boys’ Lacrosse: All-Stars: Guerin Favreau, Colin Liscomb; Honorable mention: Jonah Libby; Scholar-Athlete: Ethan Bove; Sportsmanship: Gabe Geyer
Girls’ Lacrosse: All-Star: Rachel Canedy; Scholar-Athlete: Emma Auker;
Sportmanship: Sierra Bedard.
Boys’ Golf: All-Star: Kyle Brennan; Sportsmanship: Kyle Brennan; Scholar-Athlete: Adam Thompson
Girls’ Golf: All-Stars: Mia Dang, Kaily LaChapelle, Alex Vaida, Ciara MacKinnon; Scholar Athlete: Ciara MacKinnon; Sportsmanship: Alex Vaida.
Boys’ Tennis: All-Stars: Stefan Chervenkov, Gabrial Viau, Asier Ruiz; Honorable mention: Evan Haskins; Sportsmanship: Connor Quinn; Scholar-Athlete: Connor Quinn.
Girls' Tennis: All-Stars: Addy Smith, Jackie Trudeau, Ellie Bishop-Klee, Logan Reynolds, Morgan Bentley, Sara Cotillo; Scholar-Athlete: Addy Smith; Sportsmanship: Logan Reynolds
Boys’ Track: All-Stars: Adam Schimmelpfennig (4x100 relay, 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles),Carter Saracina (4x100), Matt Marshall (4x100), Eric Phongsa (4x100), Ethan Aspiras (3200m), Keenan Lamontagne (discus); Scholar-Athlete: John Peabody; Sportsmanship: Keenan LaMontagne
Girls’ Track: All Stars: Linsey Arends (4x800, 800m), Leila MacKinnon (4x800), Lauren Brule (4x800), Iris Bazinet (4x800), Carah Bruce (3200m), Magdalena Myslenski (discus); Scholar-Athlete: Linsey Arends; Sportsmanship: Iris Bazinet.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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